Terminator: Salvation: Five companies to make one videogame

You may have already seen today's announcement that there's a "Terminator: Salvation" videogame coming this May along with the movie. Not exactly a surprise, especially since Halcyon Games, a division of "Terminator" rights holder Halcyon, said last year it was going to make that game.

But things have evolved since then. Today's announcement featured five separate companies involved in the game. I spoke to Warner Bros. and Halcyon today to sort it all out. Here's everyone involved:

-Halcyon Games. It owns the rights and is the licensor. Halcyon Games president Cos Lazouras (who used to run Vin Diesel's videogame procdution company Tigon) is overseeing the development at...

-Grin, the Swedish maker of "GRAW" and the upcoming "Bionic Commando" game.

-Equity Games Productions, a Swiss copany that's funding production of the game, along with...

-Evolved Games, a Brithsh/American firm that's apparently closely tied to Equity and helping fund it.

-Warner Bros, which is distributing the game, as well as handling PR and marketing, worldwide, through its Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment division. WB is also distributing the film domestically, while Sony Pictures is handling it internationally.

Got it? Good. Now what about the game? I don't know too much, except that it's an action game in which players control John Connor, who's played by Christian Bale in the film. Apparently movie director McG has been involved in the game production. No consoles have been announced, but since it's an action game based on a likely R-rated movie (which means a T- or M-rated game), Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 are very safe bets, with possibly a PC version too.

I think "Terminator: Salvation" now replaces "Arkham Asylum" as the most convoluted videogame business deal fo the year.